Buckwheat Zydeco

At www.buckwheatzydeco.com on the main page of his website is a quotation from the New York Times naming his as one of the two best party bands in the United States. Since Buckwheat Zydeco last graced our main stage in 1985, he's played both of Bill Clinton's inaugurations and earned four Grammy nominations from numerous albums. No word as to whether Bill sat in on sax at the inaugurations, but Eric Clapton's worked with Buck, as have other musicians as diverse and notable as Willie Nelson, Mavis Staples and Dwight Yoakam. Born Stanley Dural in 1947, the "Buckwheat" part of his nickname comes from the Little Rascals movie character of the same name; the "Zydeco" stems from his birthplace of Lafayette, Louisiana-home of zydeco music. Do not mistake or confuse zydeco with Cajun! Zydeco is very much the traditional Creole dance music of the Lafayette area, while Cajun is associated with the rural white Louisiana music community. Buck is well-recognized as Clifton Chenier's successor to the title King of Zydeco. He played with Chenier and is true to his roots while introducing other idioms, such as rock, blues and R&B. Another quotation on his home page sums up Buckwheat's appeal. The Kalamazoo Gazette says, "If you can't dance [to Buckwheat], vous êtes mort." Accompanying Buck are Stanley Dural on accordion, vocals and keyboard; Lee Zeno on bass guitar; Will Terry on sax; Curtis Watson on trumpet; Kevin Menard on drums; Reginal Dural on rubboard; Ray Mouton on guitar; and Andre Carter on trumpet.

  -- SA